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Crutch: Origins by Spoon
The Vyllyl; Vile-Youth 1

The Vyllyl; Vile-Youth 1

Enclave City; Tower of Dissipation

Not many races look kindly on the Vyllyl.  As a race they are self cannibalistic, after a fashion, they are all exactly five feet tall and look literally identical with the same facial features as the next.  The only difference is gender, eye color and hair color.  There is one other way, although it is not always the best method and that is weight.

Despite this they have absolutely no problem picking each other out of a crowd.  This is due to a unique ability to their race called Aura Sight which lets them see the unique signature of someones aura and emotional state, as you can imagine there is not a lot of crime in Vyllyl culture seeing as if there is a single witness they can easily pinpoint who the offender was.

It's also why you can imagine why they are so reviled, since it is very difficult to lie to them when they can see your emotions.  Although that is certainly not all the biggest reason is that they eat emotions.  Simply by being near them they can absorb whatever it is you're feeling like a giant leech.  This has lead them to become a very calm and logical race since living near one another they are constantly feeding on excess emotion they are left with not much more then a calculating mind, which works well for them because they are perhaps the best mages in the world.

The Ashen have a particular hate for the Vyllyl, this is explainable because the Ashen's magic relies on imagination and ingenuity they enchant piercings and rarely they have people who can use ink magic letting them become painters or tattooists.  They are a race of deep emotion and they use it to fuel their imagination.  Hence the Vyllyl have a very bad relationship with them and their presence is considered poisonous.

Currently a young Vyllyl man, named Vile is sitting in a feeding booth in the tower of Dissipation he is memorizing a spell calmly while he waits for his food.  As a student of the Enclave Academy he receives his meals for free and like many students he eats very well and in excess.  He particularly favors violent emotions and so he ordered a criminal.  With the alliance of the races Humans are perhaps their favorite since they have an abundance of people they often trade scholars or wizards to Human cities to either teach or work to police the cities or villages and in turn they provide criminals and a steady trickle of tourists or exchange students.

A second Vyllyl appeared and spoke in a toneless voice.

"You're meal has arrived"

"Very good, please lead the way." Vile responded politely. 

Standing and following the second Vyllyl down into a basement where he was lead to a room that was empty save for a large cage where a large, angry looking man was babbling to himself.  Occasionally he would stand up abruptly and scream violently.

"I'll KILL YOU ALL" He would scream, as if sensing someone had arrived before letting out a manic howl of laughter "Hahahahaaaa.. Watch you squirm."

He was clearly deranged and there were two reasons for this, one was because he was unstable and violent in the first place the second was because his meals were drugged to produce extremely violent behavior, like seasoning your meat.  Vile licked his lips in anticipation, even the stoic guide glanced enviously after Vile as he stepped through the doorway.  It was an exact measurement the moment he passed through the threshold he was bombarded with rage, and madness.  Drowning in the potent energy his eyes lit up and his hair began to glow in a quick flash before absorbing the latent emotion he greedily sucked in everything the man had to offer.

In turn the angry roars stopped, the manic laughter vanished as a moment of clarity fell onto the man.  A horrified expression on his face as he starred at his hands a piercing recollection from a mind forced into a calm state allowed him a brief moment of conscience at all the things he had done.  A low, pitiful wail escaped him as he dropped to his knees and gave a hollow cry lifting his hands to his head as if he wanted to claw out the deeds.

Vile's eyes lit up again as a rare smile stretched across his lips. "Dessert.." He calmly waited for the man's emotion to build and as he let out that hollow wail just before the criminal could lift his hands up to damage himself Vile once again sucked the emotion away leaving nothing more then a husk that fell unconscious, rolling limply over onto it's side as Vile watched indifferently.  Glancing down at himself he had swollen in size significantly his cheeks were rounded and his belly large as he had gained nearly fifty pounds from this single meal.  Without so much as a second glance he turned and walked out leaving the escort to take care of the criminal.

Having gorged himself he was feeling a little smug.  The rare moments Vyllyl's feel is after a large meal or when isolated from other Vyllyl for extended periods of time.  This lasted until someone noticed his aura and sucked it away from him, this led him to be upset as even their culture it is considered impolite to eat a strangers feelings without at least asking and he was enjoying the basking until even the upset emotion was bled away and with nothing hindering the logical part of his brain he isolated those nearby before his eyes fell on the only person close enough with bright eyes, an effect that lingers for a minute or two after eating.

It was a Vyllyl woman.  In fact it was not just any woman it was his Master and she had a small little smile on her face.  The more powerful you grow in magic allows you to effectively ward yourself from people feeding off you so quality teachers make a show of how they can reveal emotions.  This, in a way is the Vyllyl form of beauty.  People are attracted to emotions and if there is an emotion you can't have you want it all the more.  The allure is maddening although for a dispassionate people their muted emotional state simply finds it attractive.

"Master, I wasn't aware you were in the city." He spoke flatly having been drained he has no real emotions and only sought out the culprit to finish the trail of thought.

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"Ahh..!" Flinging her arms out in a wild gesture before planting the back of her hand against her forehead as if she were like to faint. "How can I stay aware from you, Vile?" She teased ineffectively.  Clearly playing with him although the scene brought many glares of jealously before the woman's hair began to glow in a flash and it quickly sucked in all of those emotions.  People blinked before moving on with the rest of their day.

A small giggle erupted from her. "I'm not a student anymore Vile, so my meals are not free you have to be gentle with your poor master's feelings!" Ambling on sweetly.

"I see.  You're using me for Attraction."

"My name is Allure." She retorted with a little sigh.  "When will you lean the wards so I can tease you properly, I want to see what you look like when you blush." Pouting a little.

Vile understood a majority of Allure's actions were just for show, she wasn't anywhere near as emotional as she portrayed she was just riling up people passing by so that she can catch a quick meal.  It was a surprisingly effective strategy as the two began to walk and talk she slowly gained nearly thirty pounds.

"Ahhh.." Letting out a small sigh "I always look forward to meeting you Vile, it's always such a rewarding experience." Allure continued "But I didn't come here just for a free meal, show me your mastery of the second circle.. If you're not careful you'll loose all that precious food." Reaching a hand out to rub at his stomach while licking her lips.

Alarmed he quickly stepped back and threw his hands up.  Words flowed from his lips and vaporous energy formed as he expelled it his hands quickly began forming an elaborate circle in the air with complicated inscriptions before drawing a second circle around the first and filling in the tiny gap between them with more lines.  While this sounds like it would take a bit of time his hands were a blur of concentration and a barrier suddenly sprang forth, a round translucent bubble formed around him.

He watched his Master who, this time, actually waited for him to finish his barrier before she raised her hands and opened them wide bowing her head down she began to inhale.  Then he felt it, he watched as he saw his master, Allure, stretch out her aura around his bubble it started by forming into a point and striking the bubble, when nothing happened it widened and struck again like a flat surface.  He was familiar with both of these tactics, the hard way, and thus modified his spell accordingly.  A small confidence swelled in him as he watched his master's aura striking at various locations looking for a weak point.

"Aahh.. So much better then the last few times." Her words echoed, but there was a tone that suggested it was far from over. "Sadly you're still lacking.  I'm disappointed Vile I thought I taught you better then this.."

Eyes widening he saw his masters aura suddenly spread itself out and cover his barrier in a thin layer that covered every surface, not able to spare the concentration to respond he immediately felt the trickle of his master's aura sprinkling in like sand through the tiniest of gaps caused by a hastily written rune, he rationalized as he continued to watch with a muted annoyance.  He watched his teacher loose ten pounds from the energy requirement for spreading her aura so thin like this but then he felt the attack, helpless before it he dropped to his knees and his spell shattered and he instantly lost twenty five pounds as she stole half of his weight.

With her costs she came out on top with an additional fifteen pounds, before she stole another five with a giggle. "Round numbers are best." As she pat her now swollen stomach.  "You're doing so much better, if you had used a bit more patience I might have even lost that test... Tsk.. Tsk.."

Pushing himself up to his feet unsteadily as he let out a sigh, it was insulting that she didn't take away his sorrow at defeat.  Allowing him to wallow in it only complicated things as he grew frustrated at her teasing.

"Next time I will succeed." He promised.

He had no other option, people considered him unlucky because he was assigned to Allure.  The reason behind this is because she only gives you three times to master a spell after that she doesn't stop feeding until you're dead.  Many teachers use this practice although they generally save such strict measures for people with very little potential.  Not Allure though, she expected results and if you didn't give them to her she wouldn't waste her time with you they only gave people with excellent potential to her because she got results.. She also ruined several prodigies leaving them in states of incapacitated or simply dead.

Her head tilted to the side before her pretty smile twisted and her face darkened.  Lips pressed together in a thin line as her brow furrowed, she was bald and had a large Ashen tattoo on her bared head, it consisted of three large, perfect circles and it allowed her to cast spells silently since she didn't need to form them in the air, they were already on her forehead all she had to do was channel her magic and the symbols appeared like sweat to fill in the space depending on the spell.  Right now the potential for a nasty spell formed itself on her forehead it was a spell that would suck the life force from you, literally draining years from you.

"I truly hope so, Vile, for your own sake." Running a hand down his cheek.  With her head canted to the side it was done intentionally to let him know what will come next she had already prepared the spell and if he failed there would be no more chances.

"Yes... Master." Dipping his own head down as a muted fear blossomed in his belly and he yearned to find a crowd where someone might absorb the unwanted emotions away.  He remained frozen in place for a minute or two before realizing his master had already left and he found he had lost his trail of thought and was starring vacantly into space, apparently, all of his emotions had been sucked clean before she left, a small mercy.

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